


to love like fools

by amemorymaze



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Character, But a happy ending promise!!!!, F/F, Football, Genderswap, Girl Direction, Pining, Unrequited Love, a bit of gryles, and niall wears a lot of snapbacks, skate parks and bike rides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-16 08:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3481526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amemorymaze/pseuds/amemorymaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Louis sighs; “If all I can be is her friend, then I’m gonna fucking take it.”</i>
</p><p>  <i>So of course she knows her best friend; she knows her back to front, probably better than she knows herself. But this - this is unknown territory and Louis’ not going to take a step when she’s still blindfolded.</i></p><p>  <i>Louis just grabs the entire bag of Malteasers and tips the last few into her mouth, ignoring the way Liam’s looking at her and pretends to focus on the film that’s showing on the screen.</i></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(or, Louis whines a lot, Harry is oblivious, Liam worries about Louis, Niall just wants them to get together and Zayn is the best listener Louis could ever want (even if 80% of the time she's whining about unrequited love and the other 20% about Nick Grimshaw's face).)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peroxideshots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peroxideshots/gifts).



> so basically i just wanted footie playing louis, netball playing harry who always moans about ruining her nails and bitchy goal defenders and louis not thinking she's the sort of girl harry wants when actually harry's already in love with her and i decided to write it and it turned into this?? yeah so hopefully will update it asap! 
> 
> thanks to my squad for helping me with this, you rock!
> 
>  
> 
> [follow me on tumblr if ya want](http://www.amemorymaze.tumblr.com)

Louis slumps down in one of the armchairs in the school’s sports hall reception still in her PE kit. Her rucksack is slung over a shoulder and she’s holding her muddy football boots by the laces because she really doesn’t feel like getting yelled at by the receptionist _again_ for trailing mud along the floors.

She’s already starting to regret not getting changed and instead throwing her blazer over her shoulders and shoving her uniform inside her bag. Because it just means that she’s going to have to iron it in the morning or turn up with a creased shirt (unless she can coerce Harry into doing it for her).

Grabbing her iPod from her blazer pocket, Louis pulls up her ‘Harry’s Late (Again)’ playlist and puts her earphones in as she drops her trainers on the floor - pretending that she can’t hear the receptionist moaning at her. She’s pretty sure that the floor’s seen worse that a smudge of mud anyway.

With Tegan and Sara blasting through her ears, she barely notices the group of girls trailing through the reception until a blast of cool air hits her when the doors open. She looks up with a frown on her face and a sarcastic quip on her tongue when she spots Harry.

Louis feels the breath hitch in her throat and her heart jolt when blue eyes meet green and she wonders if this feeling will ever go away - wonders if she’ll ever manage to be over this.

Harry is all winged eyeliner and red lipstick, sparkling earrings and rainbow bracelets. She’s perfectly messy curls framing her soft face and blazing green eyes, scarves around her neck or her hair and flowers tucked behind her ears. She unashamedly loves with all of her heart - a complete contradiction of Louis.

Louis who is all black vans and skinny jeans, long hair tied up in a ponytail, swaying as she moves. She’s sarcasm and laughter, black nail varnish and her ‘Far Away’ tattoo that she’d managed to convince her mum to let her get the moment she turned sixteen. She’s football and trying to fit in with the boys, pranking and throwing back witty comments.

She pulls her earphones out and wraps them around her ipod before jumping up out of the armchair and grabbing her trainers from the floor, and asks with a smile wide on her face, “Ready?”  

Harry smiles back as she tucks her shirt into her skirt, “Always.”

Louis just laughs; “You keep telling yourself that.” There’s a pout on Harry’s face and Louis can’t help but reach up and cup her chin, a laugh on her lips, “I have a fuckin’ playlist dedicated to you being late, H.”

Harry lets out a shout of laughter and shakes her head and Louis drops her hand; “Well,” Harry replies in her slow drawl, “I’m ready now aren’t I?”

Louis smiles and grabs her hand, dragging her out into the cold September air, “Come on, I need to be home before six, mum’s working tonight.”

Harry grins, “Can we watch 90210?”

“No,” Louis replies rolling her eyes.

“Come on, Lou,” she whines, pulling at their hands as they walk out of the school gates; “I’ll even watch the footie with you on Sunday - ”

“You’d do that anyway,” Louis replies.

“I’ll make you and the girls dinner,” she says, almost skipping in excitement because she knows Louis will say yes (she always does), “And I’ll even iron your uniform!”

“How - ” Louis begins to ask.

“You always shove it in your bag after training.”

Louis can’t help the smile that’s tugging at her lips and says, with mock annoyance; “I supposed a few episodes won’t hurt.”

They walk home taking the shortcut across the field with Harry literally dragging Louis by the hand so that they don’t fall in the mud. They’re giggling with red flushed cheeks from the bitter air and wind-swept hair falling into their eyes and mouths. The sun is low in the sky, the beams shooting across the fields surrounding them and the street lights from the road on the other side of the line of trees are beginning to turn on - glowing orange through the leaves.

By the time they get to Louis’ house, trailing mud along the pavement, their shoes are still caked in mud and they’re breathless from laughing; “I don’t know why we always go across the field, doesn’t even take that much longer.”

“More fun, ain’t it?”

Harry just laughs before slipping her shoes off on the doorstep as Louis unlocks the door.

After changing out of their school clothes, Louis’ wearing her old, ratty nike joggers and a t-shirt, and Harry’s in leggings and one of Louis’ jumpers. They end up in a heap on the sofa, Harry painting her nails on Louis’ leg and Louis staring in rapt attention at the television.

“Silver or gold - ” Harry begins.

“Silver,” Louis replies, “Now be quiet, shit’s about to go down.”

Harry huffs out a laugh; “Do you even know what I’m asking?”

“Glitter,” Louis says, a smile on her lips; “It’s always glitter, H.”

Harry just laughs and looks up at her best friend with a serene smile on her face before reaching over to grab her silver glitter from the coffee table where Louis has her feet resting.

+

“Don’t touch my chips, Horan, I had to fight tooth and nail for these,” Louis says before sitting down next to Niall, opposite Liam and Zayn.

“Got my own anyway,” she replies, flicking her blonde hair away from her face and straightening the snapback she’s got resting on her head.

“She just already ate them,” Liam says from the other side of the table as she eats her sandwich.

Harry laughs as she sits next to Louis, “How was your french test?”

Louis and Zayn groan in unison; “Let’s just, like, not talk about that - ever.”

“Told you to revise last night,” Harry replies, sneakily stealing a chip from Louis and getting a glare in response.

“Hey,” Niall moans, “How comes she gets to steal chips?!”

“She made me dinner last night,” Louis replies thoughtlessly before turning back to Harry; “You’re the one who wanted to watch 90210.”

“And you’re the one who insisted that we watch the end of the series.”

Louis just huffs in mock annoyance, a smile playing on her lips; “It was worth it though.”

Harry laughs as she grabs her lunch from her bag.

“Mind if I sit for a few?” An unfamiliar voice comes from beside Harry and they all look up in surprise.

“Sure,” Harry replies before any of the others can get a word in; “You alright, Nick?”

Louis narrows her eyes at the scene in front of her. The way Harry has a slight blush on her cheeks and has angled her body towards Nick tells her everything she needs to know. She wonders what exactly Harry’s doing with a sixth former when Nick speaks.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, smiling at everyone at the table; “Sorry for interrupting but I just wanted to make sure you’re still up for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Louis blurts out before she can think about it.

“Nick’s gonna tutor me a bit in maths,” Harry replies, the blush growing, “Like - exams are in a few months and I really don’t want to fail.”

“A head start can’t help,” Nick cuts in, “Give us your number and I’ll text you details later.”

As Harry relays her number, Louis studies Nick. She can’t help but judge disapprovingly at his hipstery look - the skinny jeans and faded band tee. She rolls her eyes as he’s typing into his phone and doesn’t even bother to pull up a fake smile when he get’s up and leaves.

“But,” Louis begins, frowning, “We were supposed to be going to the cinema tomorrow - Orange Wednesday, remember?”

Niall kicks Louis under the table; “Stop being a cockblock,” she laughs.

And Harry’s cheeks burn red as she stutters out a quiet response. “No - it’s not like that.”

Niall just rolls her eyes with a short, unbelieving, “Sure.”

“You’re still gonna come watch the match on Thursday, right?” Louis whines.

Harry shoots her a confused look; “Of course, wouldn’t miss it.”

+

They win the match and Louis’ all excited cheers and sweaty hair as she rushes over to Harry and pulls her in for a long hug. She grasps the back of Harry’s blazer tight and tucks her face into her neck, unable to stop the grin on her face.

“Well done,” Harry whispers into Louis hair before they pull apart; “You played amazingly.”

Louis just flicks her ponytail, her grin turning into a cocky smile. “I always do, love.”

Harry laughs; “I know.”

“Okay,” Louis says, stepping back towards the rest of her team, “Give me like fifteen minutes and we can walk home together.”

“Sure,” Harry smiles, already pulling out her phone, smiling.

And as they walk home, across the muddy field with Louis still in her kit and Harry in her uniform, that Louis feels her heart sink in her chest. All Harry can talk about is her evening with _Nick Grimshaw_ and she knows that she should be a supportive friend, but -

It’s hard. It’s so bloody hard.

+

The skatepark is unusually dead and Louis suspects it’s because they’re the only one’s crazy enough to be hanging around here in this cold temperature. She’s laying on the top of one of the ramps, her head is by Liam’s thigh and she has one leg dangling off the edge and the other propped up. It’s quiet except for the sound of the wheels against the ramp and the soft rustling of the leaves on the trees.

“Being in love with your best friend is shit,” Louis sighs, her words cutting into the cool air and she studies Liam’s face as she speaks, then turns to watch Niall. Neither of them look shocked or surprised by this admission - Louis hadn’t thought she was _that_ obvious.

“Sorry, babe,” Niall says as she skateboards past them; “I’m strictly into dicks.”

Louis rolls her eyes, “Fuck off,” she says, twisting her hands together, her phone resting on her stomach. “You don’t seem surprised, am I really that obvious?”

Liam starts with a sharp; “No.” But Niall laughs, “Yeah.”

Louis watches as Liam shoots a disapproving stare at Niall who just flips her off, “I mean, Harry’s completely oblivious,” Liam says.

“Tell her,” Niall says.

“No,” Louis groans and picks up her phone, shooting off a text to Zayn; _Never go to Niall and Liam for relationship advice._  

“Why not?” Liam asks as she pulls her scarf tighter around her neck.

“She likes hipster boys and pretty girls, and I’m neither one of those,” Louis states. “Plus, she’s totally into Grimshaw.”

“You don’t know that,” Liam replies, her legs dangling over the edge of the ramp from where she’s watching Niall skate around the park. “I think you’re plenty pretty.”

“Thanks, Payno,” Louis rolls her eyes; “But you didn’t have to walk home with her yesterday, chattering on and on. It was all ‘Grimmy’s so wonderful’ and ‘Nick gave me these CDs and I stayed up all night listening to them’. If I wanted his fuckin’ life story, I would’ve asked for it.”

The sun is beginning to set and her hands are freezing cold but she still has her phone out, texting Zayn who had replied with a; _Harry?_

“Lou - ” Liam begins slowly, turning her head to look down at her friend.

“It just - it _sucks,_ ” Louis says, shaking her head; “Knowing I’m not good enough for her.”

The scratching sound of the wheels against the concrete stops all of a sudden. “That’s bull,” Niall shouts from where she’s skating at the bottom of the ramp, “We all know that’s not true. She loves you.”

Louis just shrugs, “Not in the way I love her, though.” She shakes her head as she sits up, shoving her beanie back on her head and her phone in her pocket, “Doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” Liam insists, watching Louis with concern written on her face and Louis shakes her head, getting to her feet. She doesn’t want pity - she doesn’t want them to feel sorry for her.

“No,” Louis says as she runs down the ramp, her feet skidding on the floor; “It doesn’t matter because I’m not going to ruin our friendship over a little crush.”

She pretends to ignore Niall’s scoff at ‘little crush’ and grabs her bike from where it’s resting against the fence; “I’m going home.”

Climbing onto her bike, Louis shouts a quick “Goodbye,” before heading off home. She hits the pedals hard and fast, the wind blowing through her hair and stinging at her cheeks.

She doesn’t think about Harry and how she’s probably sitting in her room texting Nicholas. There most certainly isn’t a spark of jealousy shooting through her veins as she pedals harder and harder. Her thighs are burning and her heartbeat is racing as she cycles along the road back to her house.

+

She’s sitting in the back of English with Liam at her side and a bag of Malteasers in front of them, Louis has her feet in Liam’s lap. They’re throwing the chocolates into their mouths and it’s not a competition - except it _so_ is and Louis is determined to win.

They have a sub who’s basically just ignoring ninety-five percent of the class and has pretty much given up getting them to do work and has put a film on instead.

Louis has no idea what’s going on and a glance up at the weird cartoons on the projector tells her that she has no interest in finding out.

“So,” Liam begins, grabbing another chocolate from the bag; “Have you spoken to Harry?”

“Of course I’ve spoken to her,” Louis says just before cheering as she gets another Malteaser in her mouth (4-3 to Liam, she’s catching up). A few students at the front of the class shoot annoyed glances at Louis before turning back to the screen.

“I mean, did you _tell her_ ,” Liam prods, poking at Louis’ arm; “You know, about - ”

“Of course not, are you stupid?”

A flash of hurt shoots across Liam’s face but it’s gone before Louis can even utter an apology (not that she was going to). “Why not?”

“Because!” Louis says in a whisper, glancing around the room to make sure no-one is eavesdropping; “I could lose her as a friend and I don’t think I’m quite ready to take that risk.”

Liam raises an eyebrow; “You think you’d lose her? Do you even _know_ Harry?”

Louis folds her arms, huffing as looking away from Liam.

“Of course I know Harry,” Louis says. “I know that she eats with her knife and fork in the wrong hands and she’ll research into new make-up before buying it to make sure it’s not tested on animals. I know that she loves art but can’t draw and algebra is her favourite part of maths. I know that she’s never missed a single one of my football matches and as much as she complains about netball, she’ll never give it up. I know that she hates walking across the field after school but she’ll get her shoes all muddy because I want to. I know that she loves to cook dinner but not desert. I know that she’s sort-of, kinda in love with Nick Grimshaw. And I know that she fucking loves me, Li, but not in the way that I love her.” Louis sighs; “If all I can be is her friend, then I’m gonna fucking take it.”

So of course she knows her best friend; she knows her back to front, probably better than she knows herself. But this - this is unknown territory and Louis’ not going to take a step when she’s still blindfolded.

Louis just grabs the entire bag of Malteasers and tips the last few into her mouth, ignoring the way Liam’s looking at her and pretends to focus on the film that’s showing on the screen.

+

Her thighs are burning and her breath is coming out sharp as they side-step across the pitch, her hair tied up in a tight ponytail - swinging as she moves. Liam is beside her, huffing out short breaths that curl from her lips in the cold afternoon air.

There is the hint of rain around them, as if a downpour could start at any moment and it’s “fuckin’ freezin’, Lou, why are we here?”

Their bright yellow kit emblazoned with the school logo is anything but flattering but Louis doesn’t care. Except she _so_ does if the way she’s rolled up her shorts slightly is anything to go by. The band around her arm indicating her captain status is shown proudly.

“Is H coming today?” Liam asks as they begin their stretches; Louis shouting out commands to the rest of the team.

“Of course,” Louis replies with full conviction as she watches the girls stretch out their muscles. Their team is great today, she thinks, with Niall in goal and Liam as center-back, their defence is solid. The opposing school’s attackers don’t even stand a chance against those two together.

“Horan,” Louis barks, her voice carrying across the pitch; “Stretch properly - just because you’re in goal doesn’t mean you can slack. We can’t afford for you to go off injured.”

“Aye, aye,” Niall salutes back at Louis, grinning and over enthusiastically pulling her body into the stretches.

Louis laughs before looking back over at Liam who’s staring at her with wide eyes. She creases her eyebrows in confusion; “What, Payno?”

She shrugs, a sheepish smile on her face, “You just have so much faith in her.”

“Who?” Louis says, “Niall? Of course I do. Hate to break it to you but I have faith in the whole team.”

Liam shakes her head, “No,” she says slowly, “I mean Harry.”

“Oh,” Louis says, shrugging her shoulders; “Well, why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know,” Liam says as she stretches her arms behind her back; “Sorry, I just - it’s different. I dunno.”

“She’s my best friend?” Louis tries, a small smile on her face.

Liam just shrugs; “It’s different,” she insists.

“Alright,” Louis replies slowly, but before she can say anymore, she’s getting pulled over by Mr Winston, their PE teacher-slash-coach to do the coin flip for first kick-off.

She shakes the hand the other team captain, allowing her to call heads or tails.

Louis wins the coin toss. Of course she does.

+

It’s not until half-time - a few minutes before Louis goes down from a spiteful tackle, that she spots them. They’re standing at the edge of the pitch, Harry looking breathtaking as usual. Her hair is pulled back into a messy bun with curls framing her face, and she’s laughing at something Nick had said to her. She has her hands clasped in front of her and even from the other side of the pitch, Louis can tell that she’s batting her eyelashes and biting on her bottom lips.

Louis grabs a bottle of water from the holder, a chugs down half of the bottle before she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand before running over to the rest of the team, pep talk on her lips. She is determined to win this - determined to shove it in _Nick Grimshaw_ ’s (unfairly pretty) face.

And when they do win (from what Louis must admit was a spectacular goal), Louis marvels in the feel of Harry pressed up against her as she’d drawn her into a celebratory hug.

+

“Don’t laugh,” Harry says from where she’s laying on her stomach across the blankets covering Louis’ bed.

“Never,” Louis says, barely paying attention. Her focus is instead (for once) on the maths homework in front of her. She’s sitting at her desk, legs crossed on the desk chair and crouched over a textbook and her bright orange exercise book. Her hair is thrown up in a ponytail with one of Harry’s black sparkly scrunchies that matches the colour of her nails.

Harry huffs, throwing her phone down onto the bed; “Lou, I’m serious.”

Looking up from her book, hair falling into her face and her eyes wide. “So am I?” She questions, “When do I ever laugh at you?”

Harry rolls her eyes, “You laughed at me at lunch, _today._ ”

“Because you tripped over and practically landed in Grimshaw’s lap,” Louis replies. “I’d never laugh at you about something serious.”

“I know,” Harry sighs, rolling onto her back, fiddling with her school tie that’s still slung around her neck.

Rolling her eyes, Louis speaks with fondness in her voice; “You gonna tell me, or?”

“I really like him, I think,” Harry mumbles.

And, _oh_ \- it’s like a punch to the gut and Louis is grasping at strings, trying to get her breathing back under control. She knew this was coming - it’s not like it’s a shock.

Only it is, in some ways. Because Louis had perhaps been pretending it wasn’t happening. Pretending that she wasn’t watching her best friend - the girl she’s in love with - fall in love with someone else.

“Why - ” Louis begins, taking a breath; “Why would I laugh at that?”

Harry just shrugs, “I dunno, really.”

Louis gets off the chair and jumps onto the bed next to her best friend, ignoring her thumping heart and the way her mind is screaming. “H,” she says, grasping her chin, “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” She replies with her green eyes wide open and lashes fanning out over her skin and Louis just wants to reach forward and kiss her plump red lips.

“You’re wonderful and amazing and he’d be stupid not to like you back,” Louis says, smiling softly at her best friend.

“You mean that?” Harry says, her gaze unwavering as a smile brightens up her face.

Louis shakes her head; “Of course I do, idiot.”

Then Harry’s pulling her forward and Louis’ resting her head on Harry’s shoulder and they arms are tangled as they lock in an embrace. Harry’s running her hands through Louis’ hair, “It just - it kinda sucks. Like, I _just_ came out to everyone as bi so they’re expecting me to run off with some girl but - I’ve gone and found a boy and everyone’s gonna be really confused and they’re gonna judge me and -”

“Fuck them,” Louis says, looking up at Harry, “Seriously. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone. Not your friends, family or me. You just - be you, alright?”

“Okay,” she replies, softly with her lips touching the top of Louis’ head; “Okay.”

They lay in silence for a while, Harry’s fingers still combing through Louis’ hair and Louis is still fiddling with the loose threads on Harry’s tie.

“Thanks,” Harry says, staring up at the ceiling where those old glow-in-the-dark stars they’d put up back in year six are.

“Anytime,” Louis whispers back and maybe her heart’s still racing and her hands are shaking slightly but this is her _best friend_ and if that’s all they’re ever going to be - Louis will always take it.

+

All it takes is a text to the girls, a short; _girls night? grease + pizza?_ and twenty minutes later, Niall, Liam and Zayn are at her door with pillows, sleeping bags and snacks.

“I’ve already put the pizzas in the oven - yes, I added more cheese, Ni - mum said she’ll bring it in when it’s ready,” Louis says in greeting as her friends slip their shoes off. Liam lining hers up against the wall, but Zayn and Niall just haphazardly leaving them in a bundle next to the door.

“Hi, Jay!” Liam says, poking her head into the kitchen, where Louis’ mum is making tea.

“Hi, girls,” she replies, smiling as the others give her a short wave; “No Harry?”

Louis shrugs; “She’s with Nick.” But before Jay (or anyone) can say another word, Louis is forcing a grin on her face; “Come on, let’s watch Grease.”

They end up in a pile on the sofa that’s now slightly too small to fit all of them on. Louis is cuddled up close to Liam, who has her feet draped across her lap and Niall is resting her head in Zayn’s lap and her feet in Louis’.

It’s when Sandy and Danny are singing about a summer love that Liam leans over to Louis and whispers in her ear; “You okay?”

Louis just shrugs, casting her gaze downwards before Niall starts singing along much too loudly and Louis joins in, avoiding Liam’s gaze.

After too much pizza and too many sweets and not enough musicals, and when they’re laying in their sleeping bags in the middle of the living room floor, Liam asks again.

“Lou, what’s going on?” She whispers. They’re all still awake, which Louis knows because Niall hasn’t started snoring yet and Zayn’s not fidgeting.

“I - ” Louis begins, rubbing her eyes harshly before sighing, “This is fucking bullshit.”

“Lou,” Zayn begins, but Louis’ cutting her off.

“I don’t _get_ it,” Louis whines, “Am I just, like, not good enough for her or something? Is that what it is?”

“Don’t be a prat,” Zayn says, flicking Louis’ ear; “Don’t even think like that about yourself.”

Louis just shrugs.

“So, we’re past the denial stage, huh?” Niall says, causing Liam to poke her in the sides until she’s all flailing limbs. “What?! I’m pretty sure last week she was calling it a ‘little crush’ and now she’s head-over-heels in love with the girl.”

Louis just groans, throwing an arm over her face; “I hate my life.”

“No, you don’t,” Zayn saying, rolling over onto her front and resting her chin on Louis’ stomach.

Liam just hums, before shooting Louis a small smile; “Why don’t you do something about it then?”

“Like what?” Louis asks, threading her fingers through Zayn’s dark hair.

“I don’t know,” Liam says, shrugging, “Like - ”

“A makeover!” Niall shouts in glee, before getting hushed by the rest of the girls - not wanting to wake the rest of the household. She turns her voice down to a whisper; “We can give Lou a makeover!”

Liam frowns, “That’s not - ”

“Ni,” Louis says, grinning, “That’s perfect. We can even do it tomorrow - none of you are busy right?”

“I have my paper round in the morning, but I’ll be back before you’re all awake,” Niall replies, grinning.

“I don’t know…” Liam says, her voice uncertain, but then Zayn’s shooting her a _look_ and Liam sighs.

“I’ll let you paint my nails,” Louis says, batting her eyelashes over at her friend; “I know you hate black nails.”

Liam rolls her eyes, unable to stop the smile pulling at her lips; “Alright, alright. Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” the others reply in unison.

And that night, when Louis falls asleep, her heart isn’t so heavy in her chest.

+

Mondays are usually Louis’ worst days. Since she only shares Maths and Art with Harry and she has neither on a Monday, she rarely gets to see her. They get twenty minutes together at break and forty at lunch and it’s never enough.

But this week, Harry has a breaktime detention because apparently someone in their Chemistry class had decided it would be a good idea to burn the bunsen burner tube and no one had stepped up to take the blame. And at lunch, she would be practicing netball since they have a game after school.

It worked out perfectly.

They head to Zayn’s after school since she lives the closest and change out of their uniforms, pulling on the outfits they had carefully picked out on Saturday. Louis’ nails are painted a vibrant blue that matches her low-cut, tight fitting top, which according to Niall brings out the colour of her eyes or some shit. She has on a black skater skirt and a pair of Liam’s favourite pumps, complete with a floral pattern on her tights that she’s scared to pull ladders in.

She looks at herself in the mirror; smokey black eyeshadow and scarcely applied eyeliner that Zayn had painted on with artistic precision. Her hair falls in curls over her shoulders and Louis smiles at herself.

She plasters on a smile that looks much more confident than she feels and strolls out of Zayn’s bathroom. She runs into Waliyha on the way out, who grins at her and tells her she looks pretty and Louis shrugs off the compliment with a beaming smile - she can totally do this.

“Oi oi,” Niall shouts, as Zayn lets out a small wolf whistle as Louis walks down the stairs. “I’d totally do you.”

Louis just punches Niall’s arm before pulling the door open and they tumble outside. Niall just links one arm through Louis’ and the other through Zayn’s and pulls them down the pathway; leaving Liam to shut the front door.

“Come on,”  Niall shouts as Liam reaches over to put Niall’s snapback over her messy blonde hair; “We’ve gotta show Haz how pretty Lou is!”

Liam rolls her eyes, throwing an arm around Louis’ shoulders before they all make their way back to school.

+

It doesn’t go the way Louis had hoped. Not really.

Not at all.

She feels the butterflies in her stomach as they reach the netball courts to find the game starting in five minutes. Louis spots Harry amongst the team, passing the ball back and forth with Leigh-Anne.

Zayn bats Louis’ fingers away from her mouth before she manages to bite the varnish from her nails and Niall keeps an arm slung around her shoulders, giving her shoulder the occasional squeeze. Louis can’t help but think she has the best friends _ever._

When Harry looks over and spots them, there’s a moment - Louis is sure of it. Where Harry’s eyes grow wider ever so slightly and their gazes lock. There’s a spark there - something fizzling in the air - but then a second passes and it’s gone.

Harry shoots them a blinding smile and a wave before turning back to their coach, who’s sending them off to their places on the court. The girls are all jumping up and down on their spots, shooting their partner (fake) smiles.

The whistle blows, the sound shrill in the cold air, as Louis cuddles into Niall by her side and it begins.

It’s fast paced and exciting and Louis soon finds herself cheering and shouting words of encouragement to the teams. The whistle blows more times than she can count from fouls (where Louis attempts to keep her insults and swears to herself) to goals (where all four of them jump up and down cheering).

There is only seconds to go as Harry catches the ball from the center before pivoting on her toes. She loops it upwards and over the heads of the defence and into the hands of their shooter.

The ball falls into the net and the whistle goes once, twice then a third time.

Harry bounds over to them after disentangling herself from the team hug, a bright grin on her face.

“Well done, Hazza!” Niall says, “You played so good!” The rest of them chorus out their agreements and Harry looks down at her feet; “Thanks, girls.”

Then she’s looking up at Louis, smiling and reaching out to tug at Louis’ curled hair; “Your hair looks super pretty like this, Lou.”

Before Louis can reply, Harry’s getting pulled away so they can shake the hands of the other team’s players. She leaves Louis’ there with her stomach twisting and the phantom ghost of her fingers tangled in her hair but all she can feel is disappointment sinking in her gut.

She just shrugs as Niall beams; “Baby steps, Lou.”

She can feel Liam’s stare on her face and she forces a fake smile on her face, “Yeah,” Louis begins, slinging an arm around Liam’s waist, squeezing it gently; “I guess you’re right, Nialler.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is Harry, Harry, _Harry._
> 
> Harry; wonderful, loving, caring Harry, who tastes of rich dark chocolate and fanta fruit twist, and kisses like the world is ending.

Louis finds herself spending more and more time with Liam. Sitting on the counter in the girls toilets; her feet dangling inches from the ground with her eyes closed as Liam applies eyeliner.

“You don’t have to do this you know?” Liam starts cautiously; “You don’t have to… pretend for her.”

Louis shrugs, ignoring Liam's huff of annoyance as she smudges the eyeliner. “I’m not _pretending_ for anyone. I’m just trying something new, alright?”

“Alright,” Liam says dejectedly, “I just want you to be happy, Lou.”

“I am, Payno,” Louis says, smiling. “Don’t worry about me.”

Liam rolls her eyes, “It’s hard not to worry about you, babe.”

Louis hops of the side and turns to look in the mirror, smiling at her reflection, “I look hot, thank you Leeymo.”

Shrugging, Liam throws her make-up back into her bag before zipping it up and putting it over her shoulder; “Come on, we’ve gotta say hi to the others before form and before you rub all that make-up off before Harry gets to see you looking like that.”

Louis smiles, throwing an arm around Liam’s waist (because she can’t reach her shoulders - Liam’s _tall_ , okay?) and they walk out of the toilets together.

“Come over tonight?” Liam asks, her voice shaking slightly with nerves, “Mum’s making lasagne?”

Louis grins, “Of course, Li.”

+

That evening as they’re sitting on Liam’s bed, the duvet all over the place from where they’d had a tickle fight and the pillows thrown against the other side of the room, full from two helpings of lasagne, Louis pushes up the sleeves of her long sleeved top and brushes her hair from her face. She watches Liam with a frown on her face as she avoids Louis gaze.

“I - Can I talk to you about something?” She asks.

Louis frowns at the sudden drop in the mood and there’s a thickness in the air that Louis can’t place and she knows - she knows, that now isn’t the time to joke; “Of course, Li. Always.”

She takes a visibly deep breath and Louis feels her heart clench, “You know - in Angus, Thongs? The snogging scale?”

Louis nods, wondering where exactly Liam is going with this. “I don’t want _any of it_ \- Idon’tgetit,” she breathes out in a rush.

Louis frowns, “I don’t understand?”

“I - the whole… sex thing? I don’t - I don’t see what’s so great about it? Is there something wrong with me? Am I not normal?” Louis watches as she begins to panic, not knowing how to calm her down.

“Li - Liam, there is _nothing_ wrong with you, okay?”

“I don’t even want to _snog_ anyone, Louis,” Liam says, her eyes wide and her breath coming out in sharp bursts; “Why do I feel like this?”

“Liam,” Louis says, leaning over and pulling her into a hug. Her arms tight around Liam’s body; “It’s going to be okay - we can, we’ll figure this out, okay?”

Liam shudders, her breath still shaky but her eyes are dry; “Are you - you’re sure, right?”

“One hundred percent,” Louis says, “We have google on our side, don’t we?”

+

“Hey, Lou,” Harry says, sitting down in the empty seat next to her at lunch later that week; “Can I use your Orange Wednesday code?”

Louis quirks her eyebrow in confusion before turning to Harry with her crisps in hand. “Didn’t know you wanted to go to the cinema tonight, is anything even on?”

“Oh,” Harry blushes, her cheeks tinted red and Louis narrows her eyes, “It’s, um, I told Nick that I could get a code - there’s, I don’t know - some indie film out that he wants to see.”

“Of course,” Louis mutters under her breath, barely resisting rolling her eyes. But then she’s looking up at Harry and her eyes are wide and she smiling nervously at Louis and Louis can’t resist her - can never say no. And despite the hurt that’s running through her veins and the ‘ _never good enough’_ , Louis plasters a smile on her face; “I’ll text you it later, when do you need it by?”

“Thanks, Lou! You’re the best!” Harry says, grinning before leaning over and pulling Louis into a hug, “I think, uh, it starts at half five so sometime before then please?”

“Alright, I’ll text you,” Louis replies, her voice soft as she sinks into the hug.

She can feel Harry grinning into her shoulder before she speaks, “Come over after school? Help me choose an outfit?”

Louis pulls back slightly, looking up at Harry with her eyebrows furrowed; “You mean you just want me there to tell you how pretty you look?”

Harry laughs, “Of course.”

Louis shrugs, looking across the table at Niall; “I don’t know,” she says, “I promised Ni I’d go to the skate park with her…”

Niall looks up from eating, shrugging as she rearranges the snapback that’s sitting on her head, “It’s alright, you can meet me after Harry’s ready for her date.”

“Yeah?” Louis says.

“Yeah,” Niall replies, “Just bring me a Maccys or summat.”

“How about we go to McDonalds after? It’ll be a proper date - I’ll even pay for you.”

Harry gasps dramatically; “She _never_ pays for me!”

Louis rolls her eyes and Niall just grins; “Didn’t she tell ya? She’s madly in love with me.”

“Keep dreamin’, Horan,” Louis says.

+

It’s in ICT that Liam brings it up again, whispering in the loud classroom as everyone works on their coursework.

“Have you - do you know what asexual is?” Liam asks, her voice low and her hands shaky.

Louis just shakes her head as she keeps an eye out on their teacher, just incase he comes over and interrupts.

“It’s the - ” She pauses for a moment, taking a breath, a small smile forming on her lips; “It’s a ‘lack of sexual attraction’, well, that’s what wikipedia says, anyways. Like, a kind of sexuality? Like you being a lesbian and Haz being bi.”

“So,” Louis says, trying to squash her confusion down, “You think that’s you, right?”

Liam nods, “I’m just - I’m not the only one, you know?

Louis shakes her head; “No, you’re not. You’ll never be alone, alright? Never.”

There’s the hint of tears in Liam’s eyes and she wipes them away before anyone but Louis notices; “Lou - thank you.”

“You shouldn’t - I’m just being a decent human being, you shouldn’t thank me.”

Liam just shrugs, turning back to her computer, her eyes following one of their classmates who’s collecting something from the printer. “But I _want_ to. You’re the best friend I could’ve ever asked for, Lou.”

“Stop it,” Louis says, smiling with her eyes too bright, “Or you’re going to make me cry - and if you tell _anyone_ about this, I will never let you copy my maths homework again.”

“You copy _my_ hom-”

“Shhh,” Louis says, lifting a finger to Liam’s lips, effectively silencing her, “We need to get this coursework done.”

+

It takes all of two seconds for Louis to realise that something’s up when they meet at the bike shed after school when Louis’ shrugging her hoodie on and putting her blazer on over the top. The eyeliner that Liam had put on her this morning in the girl’s toilets is beginning to smudge and her hair is a mess so she just pulls it up into a ponytail with the scrunchie that’s around her wrist.

Louis’ unlocking her bike and looping the lock around the bike frame when she looks up to find Harry standing a few feet away. She has her backpack thrown over one shoulder and her eyes are downcast as she fiddle with a strand of curly hair that’s escaped from the beanie she’s wearing.

“Hey, H,” Louis says, wiggling her fingers in a wave and shooting a smile in her direction.

“Hey,” Harry replies quietly.

Louis pulls her bike away from the rack slightly, looking at Harry with concern in her eyes; “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Harry says, shaking her head before pulling her bag onto her back properly, “I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Louis drawls, raising her eyebrows; “Let’s pretend that _wasn’t_ a lie.”

Harry just sighs, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck before looking to make sure they’re alone before mumbling something under her breath that Louis cannot hear a word of.

“Babe, speak up.”

“What if I mess this all up?” Harry says, her eyes wide open as she stares up at Louis.

“Haz,” Louis takes a step towards Harry and takes a deep breath before tugging on her scarf and speaking; “You’re not going to mess it up.”

“I just - I really like him, Lou.”

Louis pulls Harry into a gentle hug, grasping her back as she lets Harry press her face into her neck; “You won’t mess it up, Haz. Trust me?”

“Yeah?” Harry says, fighting a smile.

“Of course,” Louis replies, before taking a step back and grabbing her bike; “Come on, I’ll give you a backie - won’t even go across the field!”

Harry grins as she follows Louis who’s pushing her bike out of the shed and to the playground. All the nervous energy gone as she climbs onto the pegs on the back wheel of the bike once Louis’ settled on the seat.

“Ready?” Louis asks.

“Always.”

+

They’re on Harry’s bed after she’d finally decided on an outfit to wear with the new Scouting For Girls album playing in the background. Harry’s plaiting Louis’ hair, twisting and pulling at her hair into knots. Louis giving the occasional over-exaggerated moan of pain when she pulls a little too hard, but Harry just rolls her eyes when she sees Louis smiling from behind her hand.

“Are you really nervous?” Louis asks, twisting round so that she’s facing Harry, their knees of their crossed legs touching gently.

“Hmm?” Harry replies distractedly.

“About your date?” Louis says, reaching over to gently link her fingers with Harry’s.

Harry shrugs, looking anywhere but Louis; “Yeah, I guess.”

“You really don’t need to be,” Louis says gently. “Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

Harry smiles depreciatively, “You have to say that, you’re my best friend.”

Trying to ignore the sharp sting in her chest, Louis squeezes their linked fingers; “Doesn’t mean it’s not true. Nick is so lucky to have someone like you in his life, Haz, he really is.”

A soft, smile warms Harry’s face before she sighs. “What if he wants to kiss me?!”

Louis takes a step towards Harry and takes a deep breath before tugging on her scarf and speaking; “Do you want to kiss him?

“Yes,” Harry says, “No - maybe? I don’t know, Lou! I think so?”

Louis sighs, “Haz, what’s the actual problem?”

“I - what if I’m shit?” Harry says, her gaze darting across the room as she picks at her nails; “What if I - I don’t know, use too much tongue or I accidentally bite him or, or - ”

“Harry,” Louis says, pulling her into a gentle hug; “You won’t be shit.”

“How do you know?” Harry replies into Louis’ neck and she can feel her breath over her skin.

Louis pulls back, looking into Harry’s eyes; “Just - trust me. Everything’ll be okay.”

“I do trust you, Lou. You know I do - it’s just, I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

Louis’ silent for a moment, just rubs her hands up and down Harry’s arms.

“Kiss me,” Harry says, her eyes shining wide.

“What?” Louis stutters out, her hands falling to the mattress with a soft thud.

“Teach me to kiss, Lou,” she pauses, her mouth turning up into a coy smile; “Well, teach each other to kiss, I suppose.”

“I thought you always wanted your first kiss to be special?” Louis manages, her heart beating fast in her chest.

“With you, it’s always special.”

Louis feels a blush spread across her cheeks and a smile tilts at the corner of her lips as she twists her fingers together in her lap. Before she can even stutter out a reply, Harry’s beginning to backtrack; “I mean, only if you want to of course - I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You’d never make me uncomfortable, Haz.” She says, before pausing for a moment; “Yeah, okay.”

It’s a bad idea - an awful, completely terrible idea, but there’s hope in her chest, powering it’s way through her body.

Harry grins; “Yeah?”

Louis nods shyly, “Yeah.”

Slowly as the tension builds in the air, Harry inches herself forward. Louis’ breath catches in her throat and her hands flutter helplessly by her side. Their noses bump and Harry lets out a short, nervous giggle and Louis can’t stop her hands from shaking.

“Okay,” Harry says slowly, “Let’s just… shall we?”

Louis laughs softly before looking up from under her eyelashes and she smiles softly. After pushing the sleeves of her jumper up her arms, she reaches forwards, gently brushing her fingertips over Harry’s cheeks and tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Harry’s smile is so beautiful - lighting up her entire face and causing her eyes to shine and Louis takes a breath. She moves forward so slowly, watching the way Harry’s eyes keep flickering down to her lips and how her eyelashes flutter.

She closes the space between them; pressing their lips together tightly. Her eyes close softly and all Louis can feel is Harry’s lips on hers. Unconsciously, Louis threads her hands through Harry’s soft curls, tangling her fingers as their lips press together.

Then Harry’s pressing herself forward, opening her mouth under Louis’ and pressing her tongue forwards - sliding it into Louis’ mouth. She rests her hands on Louis’ waist, a gentle, barely-there pressure that Louis can feel as if it were fire.

She let’s Harry take control of the kiss - let’s her tangle their tongues together as they move in a rhythm. Louis’ heart is racing in her chest, beating heavily against her ribcage and everything is Harry, Harry, _Harry._

Harry; wonderful, loving, caring Harry, who tastes of rich dark chocolate and fanta fruit twist, and kisses like the world is ending.

+

She cycles to the park after leaving Harry’s, everything a blur around her as she speeds down the road. There’s tears in her eyes that she tries to push away and ignore and pretends it’s just from the wind hitting her face.

When she finally reaches the skate park, she skids on her bike until it comes to a stop and jumps from it - letting it crash to the ground. She takes a step back and slumps down to the round, rattling the chain link fence behind her. The only thing she can hear is the buzzing in her ears and all she can picture is Harry’s giddy smile as Nick had come to pick her up for their date.

Throwing her hood up over her head, she pulls her knees up to her chest to rest her forehead in and just _breathe._ Inhale, exhale - trying to forget the events of the afternoon. Trying to forget everything she had felt and everything Harry hadn’t.

There’s a hand on her shoulder all of a sudden and the fence rattles again as Harry feels a presence beside her.

“Louis,” Niall begins, throwing an arm over Louis’ shoulders; “It’s going to be alright - whatever happened. We can figure it out.”

Louis just leans into Niall’s embrace as she gets her breathing under control. They sit there in silence to the sound of rustling leaves and wheels on concrete.

Louis just shakes her head, taking in a deep breath. “It’s not going to be okay,” she says into her legs.

“With that attitude it ain’t.”

“I hate the way she makes me feel so much, Ni. I hate it so much, I just want it to stop.”

Niall squeezes Louis tighter, before pulling away and getting to her feet; “C’mon, I’ll teach you how to skateboard.”

Louis smiles shakily, accepting the hand Niall’s holding out; “I already know how to skateboard, mate.”

“Yeah,” Niall says with a cheeky smile on her face as she adjusts her snapback, “You know how to skateboard badly.”

Louis laughs, hitting Niall’s shoulder lightly before following her onto the ramps.

“Hey,” Louis says, softly, grabbing Niall’s attention; “Have you spoken much to Liam recently?”

“Not as much as usual, I guess,” Niall says, a frown crossing her face; “Why?”

Louis looks down at the ground, “Just - maybe remind her that you love her, alright?”

Niall looks concerned for a moment, before nodding her head, not questioning it, “Sure. Now come on, let’s skate.”

+

It’s not until later that evening after sitting in McDonald’s with Niall as she ate her way through twenty chicken nuggets that she makes her way home. She feels lighter than she had before as she cycles at a gentle pace down her road. She has scrapes and bruises on her legs and arms from falling down the ramps but as she thinks back, she doesn’t regret it.

She loves Niall, she really does.

Cycling up to her house, she frowns as she spots a familiar figure sitting on her front step.

“H?” Louis says, jumping off her bike and letting it fall onto the lawn with a thud, “What’re you doing here?”

Harry doesn’t look up and remains slouched on their porch; “Please don’t laugh.”

“What’s wrong?” Louis asks, sitting down next to her best friend and draping an arm over her shoulder; “What happened?”

“I - ” Harry begins, brushing her hair out of her face, finally looking up at Louis. Louis’ shocked to find her eyes wide and tears brimming at the edges; “God, I’m so embarrassed.”

“Do I need to go punch him?” Louis asks as she reaches over and wipes the tears out from under her eyes; “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” Harry says, “It was my fault, I - he’s gay.”

“What?!” Louis leans back in surprise; “Oh, Harry.”

“I feel like _such_ an idiot, Lou,” Harry says, shaking her head; “I tried to kiss him - I did kiss him. And he just - ”

“Was he an arsehole?” Louis demands, her eyes growing hard.

“I wish,” Harry shakes her head, her hair falling into her face. “He was really nice, I - how could I be so stupid?”

“You’re not, Haz,” Louis says, her eyes wide and earnest, “You’re sixteen, isn’t this what we’re supposed to do? Do stupid things, get our hearts broken by dumb boys - and girls, I suppose. It doesn’t make you stupid, alright?”

Harry smiles and although it’s slightly shaky, it’s a smile none-the-less and Louis just grabs her hand, hauling her to her feets and dragging her through her house.

“Can we listen to the Jonas Brothers?”

Louis rolls her eyes, smiling softly, “Whatever you want, babe.”

And later that evening when they’re on the Tomlinson’s sofa in a bundle watching 90210 as Louis lets Harry paint her nails in rainbow colours (with glitter of course), Louis can’t help but smile at her best friend as she hums along to the theme tune. And she just thinks to herself that maybe being in love with Harry Styles isn’t the worst thing in the world after all.

+

“ _Everyone knows it’s meant to be,”_ Harry sings to the empty street as Louis cycles them down the road; “ _Fallin’ in love, just you and me.”_

She’s standing on the pegs attached to the back wheel of Louis’ BMX; her hands resting lightly on Louis’ shoulders. In ripped skinny jeans and a white t-shirt, the scarf in her hair flies behind them as they race - the wind whipping past them as the temperature begins to drop.

Harry lets out a shout of laughter as Louis makes a turn; “ _‘Til the end of time, ‘til I’m on her mind, it’ll happen!_ ”

Louis rolls her eyes as Harry sings, trying to ignore the relevance of the lyrics and Harry’s insistence that she sings along.

“ _Where would we be, if we couldn’t dream?”_

“That’s not the same song,” Louis huffs out as she cycles across the fields behind Harry’s house - the ones they always used to explore when they were younger and now know like the back of their hands.

“You recognised it!” Harry shouts, gleefully, jumping off the bike as Louis begins to come to a stop. She turns and watches as Louis lets the bike fall to the ground after hopping off the seat. Harry grasps Louis’ hand in hers, pulling her through the small patch of trees, singing softly; “ _And I know, we get a little crazy.”_

Louis grins, “ _And I know, we get a little loud.”_

Harry turns back, her eyes shining brightly in the setting sun, the light just filtering through the trees. They reach the small river, their hands still tangled as they jump on the rocks and pebbles trying to get to the other side, laughing as Harry slips and splashes water up her leg. They don’t stop singing.

They sit there on a log in the middle of a clearing full of twigs and dead leaves that crunch under their feet and Louis brushes her fingers through Harry’s hair; “You okay?”

“‘M fine,” she says, smiling sleepily up at Louis, “Glad I have you, Louis.”

Louis smiles, watches the dimples in Harry’s cheeks fade; “I’m glad I have you too.”

+

When Harry turns up at Louis’ door the next morning, ready to make her way to school, Louis’ back to thick black eyeliner, hair up in a ponytail and black skinnies (instead of the regulation skirt or trousers) and gone is the sparkly eye-make up and heavily applied mascara.

Louis slams the door shut behind her as she throws her bag over her back and begins rolling the sleeves of her blazer up; “Y’alright, Hazza?”

The right side of Harry’s lips turn up into a smile and she shrugs, “What happened to the…” she pauses for a moment, gesturing to her face; “make-up and stuff?”

Louis just shrugs and lets Harry thread her arm through her, linking them together. “Just wanted to try somethin’ out - didn’t like it.”

“Nah,” Harry says, as they start walking down the road, their breath curling up in front of their faces; “I like this you better, I think.”

There’s a lapse in conversation for a moment before Harry’s talking again; “But next time you want someone to give you a makeover, let me help? Please?”

Louis just laughs. “Of course, Haz, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks again to elsa for help with the cliches - basically all of her favourite things.  
> also, the songs in this are: just friends and that's just the way we roll by jonas brothers. also for inspiration, i listened to scouting for girls' debut album and the fray! 
> 
>  
> 
> [reblog if ya like it?](http://amemorymaze.tumblr.com/post/112716148483/title-to-love-like-fools-summary-louis-whines-a)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe, just maybe, everything she wants is right there. Currently rolling around in her kit; kicking up mud at Liam as she giggles. With wide eyes and strands of hair flying in her face from the cool wind, Harry feels a small smile tilt up the corners of her lips.

There’s a bead of sweat dripping down the back of Harry’s neck as she runs up and down the Netball court; cursing Leigh-Anne for being ill today because Harry is god-awful at playing center. The shrill whistle blows and Harry groans just as the ball goes through the net once again.

She rocks backwards on her heels as everyone moves back to their starting positions and tries to breathe. She really shouldn’t have eaten those chips Louis bought her earlier, especially not before practice.

Standing in the center circle, waiting for the ball to be passed to her, Harry’s lips turn into a grin as she hears raucous laughter from the field. Looking up she spots her best friend laying on the ground with her legs splattered with mud.

And it goes something like this; with Harry’s eyes shining in the dimming sun and her breath leaving her chest with a start, her grin drops. It’s a sudden realisation that she wants to hear that laughter every single day of her life - she wants to know the cause of it, wants to _be_ the cause of it. She wants Louis to look at her as if she hung the stars in the night sky. The butterflies in her stomach are fluttering and her hands are sweaty because - oh.

Maybe, just maybe, everything she wants is right there. Currently rolling around in her kit; kicking up mud at Liam as she giggles. With wide eyes and strands of hair flying in her face from the cool wind, Harry feels a small smile tilt up the corners of her lips.

“Stop staring at your girlfriend, Harry,” Jade says, throwing the ball to her hands, but Harry fumbles, almost dropping it.

Harry’s eyes grow wide as she looks up; “We’re not - It’s not… She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Uh huh,” Jade says as she gets into position in front of Harry, her eyes are twinkling and she’s grinning as if Harry’s world hasn’t just turned upside down. “You keep tellin’ yourself that.”

And if Harry throws the ball slightly too hard every time she passes it for the rest of practice; no one says a thing.

+

“I think I’m in love, Ni,” is the first thing Harry says as soon as her bedroom door slams shut.

Niall just jumps onto Harry’s bed, kicking her shoes off as she hums; “Uh huh, Grimshaw?”

She visibly flinches, shaking her head as she flops down onto the bed next to Niall, Harry throws her blazer onto the floor and buries her head into Niall’s stomach.

“No?” Niall questions, threading her fingers into Harry’s soft curls, a frown on her face. “Wh-”

“Louis,” Harry mumbles, her cheeks flaring red; “It’s Louis. I’m in love with Louis. Oh god.”

Niall tries not to smile. “Is this a bad thing, or?”

“Yes!” Harry says indignantly, lifting her head from Niall’s stomach, “No. I don’t know, Ni. I don’t have a clue.”

“Haz - ”

“Can we just cuddle and pretend that I didn’t say anything?”

Niall just sighs, pulling Harry up so that her head rests in the dip of her neck; “Can I just - you should tell her how you feel, yeah?”

Harry shrugs, “Let’s be honest, I probably will just end up embarrassing myself as usual and Lou will be all sweet and kind but I’ll always be the one who looks like a complete prat.”

“Harry,” Niall starts, but Harry cuts her off.

“Nope, it’s cuddle time.”

Niall just laughs quietly before reaching over to grab the tv remote and turning it on.

+

She’s jumping on the balls of her feet as she rings the doorbell, her skirt blowing in the breeze as she tries to stop it from flying up. There’s a CD in her shaking hand and she keeps brushing her hair away from her face, the only sign that she’s nervous.

“Jay,” Harry says, her voice squeaking slightly as Louis’ mum answers the door, “Hi!”

Smiling at Harry and standing aside to let her in, Jay smiles; “Hello, dear. Louis’ in her room, go on up.”

“Thanks,” she says, before slipping her shoes off, slinging them next to Lou’s battered vans and bounding up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

As she reaches Louis’ door she hears her talking to someone; “No - Liam, shut up. No, I haven’t… Why would I tell her?”

Tentatively, Harry knocks on the door - not wanting to interrupt a private conversation, even if it is between two of her best friends.

“Sorry, Li, gotta go,” Harry can hear before a quick shout of; “Come in.”

Harry slowly pushes the door open to find Louis standing by her desk, with her phone to her ear and when she spots Harry standing there she grins.

“Harry’s here,” she says as she holds up a finger and mouths ‘ _one sec’_ , “Yeah, yeah, I know. Alright, see you tomorrow. Love ya too.”

“Hey,” Harry says and she sits down gently on Louis’ bed, pouting; “You never tell me you love me when I call you.”

Louis just laughs, pulling her hair out from the pony tail she had had it in, before jumping onto the bed beside her best friend. “That’s because when you normally call me it’s like 2am and you’re questioning the existence of unicorns or some shit, H.”

“And?” Harry says exasperated.

“I usually fall asleep after the first sentence, you know that.”

Harry giggles before letting herself fall backwards onto the pillows; “That is very true.”

They lay there in silence for a few moments and Harry can’t help but look at the faded glow-in-the-dark stars that are blu-tacked to the ceiling.

“Didn’t realise you were going to grace me with your presence today,” Louis says finally, rolling over onto her stomach and propping her chin up on her hands.

Harry smiles over at her best friend and pokes her side slightly with her foot; “I, um, I went to town with mum today and I found this in HMV.”

“Yeah?” Louis replies, her face lighting up as she spots the CD that’s still in Harry’s hand.

“Thought we could, you know, give it a listen?”

“Who is it?” Louis asks as she drags herself off the bed and over to her desk.

“Sleeping With Sirens,” Harry says, shrugging; “It has pretty artwork and a pretty name.”

Louis jumps back on the bed just after turning the lights in her room off and closing the curtains. “Let me see?” she says before passing Harry her old Walkman, “I don’t know how this thing still works.”

Taking the CD from the case before handing it over to Louis, Harry shrugs. It’s a sort of tradition, this is.

“Remember when you got this?” Harry says and she slides the CD inside; “After your -”

“Birthday,” Louis smiles softly, “Yeah, of course I do. I was _so_ excited. The first time I saw you after Christmas, I made us sit in here under the ‘stars’ and listen to Britney Spears.”

Harry laughs; “I miss it, you know?”

“Listening to Britney?” Louis says, smiling over softly as she puts one earphone in, handing the other to Harry.

Harry rolls her eyes, “Just, being younger I guess. It’s like,” she pauses for a moment, trying to collect her words; “Being naive to everything that’s happening around us and not having a care in the world. All that mattered was sitting under those glow-in-the-dark stars and singing along to Britney Spears.”

“Hey,” Louis says, moving onto her side so that she’s facing Harry, “We can still do that now.”

Harry smiles and even if it’s slightly nostalgic, it’s a smile nonetheless. “Press play?”

“The whole way through; no stopping?”

“Of course.”

The moment the first beat comes through the earphones, Louis rests her head on Harry’s shoulder and they both close their eyes. Harry’s heart beats erratically as she listens to the songs and tries to ignore the touch of her best friend.

+

“We did it!” Louis shouts as she tears out of the sports hall, crashing into Harry; “We’re in the fuckin’ final!”

“Tomlinson!” Their coach shouts as she gets off the bus; “Language.”

“Three-nil,” she says, grinning as Harry hugs her tighter; “Niall played brilliantly.”

“Yeah?” Harry says, trying and failing to ignore the fact that everything is Louis, Louis, Louis. It always is; “I always knew you would do it.”

“Number one fan right here,” Louis shouts to the rest of the team, who either give a cheer or an eyeroll (or both if you’re Niall). “Okay, gimme a few minutes so I can go grab my stuff then I’ll be right back and we can walk home, yeah?”

As Louis runs off, Niall comes up behind Harry, a smile on her face as she rests her chin on Harry’s shoulder.

“No wonder you’re in love with her,” Niall says, grinning; “She does have a fantastic arse.”

Harry laughs; “Niall! You can’t say that.”

“It’s true though, innit.”

Shaking her head, Harry pushes Niall away; “Shut up.”

“You loooove her,” Niall says, gleefully, “Harry Styles is in love!”

Harry smiles, a blush rising on her cheeks; “Stop it, she’ll be back any minute.”

Niall jumps out of the way of Harry trying to hit her with her bag before running into the sports hall laughing.

A couple of seconds later, Louis walks out with her kit slung over her shoulder and a confused smile on her face; “What’s Niall so happy about?”

Harry shrugs; “It’s Niall, it could be anything.”

“Very true, Styles,” Louis says as she links their arms; “Now, do you want the minute-by-minute account of the match now or later?”

“Might as well get it over with now, huh?” Harry says complete with a mock sigh, before giggling.

“Just for that,” Louis says, grinning; “It’s going to be a second-by-second recount.”

“Oh no,” Harry replies, a hand to her heart, “Whatever will I do?”

Louis laughs before launching into her story.

And Harry listens and listens, drinking in every detail, every compliment and every criticism. She laughs as she hears about Niall falling over and landing face first in the mud. She watches as Louis communicates with her words and her eyes - her hands accentuating everything she says.

It’s then and there that she nearly blurts everything out with the sun setting in the distance and the air growing colder. She almost spills everything that she’s been feeling and every realisation that she has all because of the way Louis looks in the light. The way her eyes shine and glow and her body radiates warmth even in the chilly wind.

The words are on the tip of her tongue, but she swallows them down as Louis tells her about another fantastic save Niall made.

Harry just smiles along and laughs and doesn’t think of the butterflies in her stomach - not at all.

+

The final comes sooner than any of them anticipated and the weekend beforehand the five of them; Harry, Louis, Liam, Zayn and Niall, find themselves sitting around the fire outside the back of Harry’s dad’s bungalow. They spend the time roasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories until the fire starts to die out and the night becomes too cold.

“Can’t believe it’s this time of year again,” Louis says, wistfully.

“We’re gonna win it this time, I swear,” Niall replies, grinning.

Liam and Zayn laugh; “You say that _every year_ , Ni.”

“Well, this year we’ve gotta, innit?” Niall continues; “It’s out last year.”

“Only if you don’t make it into sixth form,” Harry says, picking at a thread at the seam of her jeans. “Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with being positive.”

Niall reaches over to give Harry a high-five; “Exactly! Hazza’s got the right idea.”

Louis looks over the marshmallow she’s currently roasting to perfection to give Harry a small smile and a thumbs up.

“Girls,” Liam says, looking up from where she’s been sitting, picking at her nails; “I - um, I want to tell you something.”

“Is this like another coming out?” Niall asks, “Are you gay, _too_?”

“No,” Liam laughs, shrugging; “Um, well,” she looks over at Louis nervously before continuing; “I think, uh, no - actually. I know, that, uh, I’m asexual.”

“Isn’t that like, plants?” Niall asks, tilting her head in confusion; “I swear we just did about like, plants reproducing asexually - like without sex?”

Liam laughs; “I’m not a plant, Ni.”

Niall grins; “I know that, idiot, I just - I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s just like - I don’t want to have sex. Like, ever. I’m not - uh - sexually attracted to anyone, I guess.”

Louis sits up in her chair then; “I think Liam just wants us to tell her that we still love her and accept us for who we are - even though she _already knows that_.”

“Heeeey,” Liam says, reaching over to punch Louis’ arm; “This is the equivalent to me coming out, don’t be a prat.”

“Sorry,” Louis says, shoving the marshmallow in her mouth and lifting her hands in the air in surrender.

“Of course we still love you, Li,” Harry says, rushing over to Liam and pulling her in for a hug; “Always love you.”

And then the other girls are joining in and suddenly they’re on a heap on the ground, giggling and they pretend not to notice the way Liam’s wiping at her eyes.

“It’s just such a relief, you know? Because I didn’t get it, like, I didn’t understand it at all. But now I have an actual word for it and like, maybe I’m gonna have to explain it to people - but there’s a word and it’s an actual thing and I’m not stupid or weird or abnormal. Sorry - I’m getting emotional, this was supposed to be about the match and celebrating.”

“Shut up, Liam,” Zayn says, shaking her head; “We care more about you that a stupid match.”

“It’s not _stupid_ ,” Louis replies indignantly.

“Of course not, Lou,” Harry says patronisingly as she reaches over to pat her cheek.

“Shove off,” Louis says, getting to her feet before yelling; “Last one in the house sleeps on the floor!”

They all run, tripping over each other and their own feet, pulling each other back - Harry manages to pull Niall to the floor and Zayn manages to beat Louis; much to her annoyance. And Liam beats them all.

None of them sleep on the floor.

+

“Nervous?” Harry asks.

Louis shrugs, “A bit, I guess?”

Harry smiles at her best friend and pulls her into a hug as they walk to school; “You’ll do amazing, Lou, you always do.”

She pretends not to notice the blush on Louis’ face that stays there until they reach the school gates.

 

+

 

“No,” Niall says, shrugging Harry off as she makes her way over to the changing rooms; “You do it?”

“I can’t - she’ll see me.”

“Isn’t that the point - she’s supposed to know it’s you?”

Harry sighs; “Not directly. If she doesn’t realise it’s me, then it doesn’t matter. But if she does - well… Just please, Niall?”

“Ugh,” Niall groans grabbing the paper from harry’s hands, “Just put it on her bag, yeah?”

“Thanks, Ni,” Harry says, kissing her cheek; “You’re the best!”

“Whatever,” Niall says, laughing.

“Good luck!”

“Yeah, yeah, you too!”

+

The match starts off - well, not great, in Harry’s honest opinion. She’s still cheering from the sidelines, trying to help encourage and motivate, but they’re getting completely smashed by the other team.

Despite Niall only letting in one goal, the ball is constantly at her end and Harry can see Louis getting more and more frustrated because she’s trying her best. Tackling and falling in the mud, she keeps stealing the ball off of them, only to have it thrown right back her way.

Harry just watches, biting her nails in nervousness with Zayn by her side. They both watch as the half-time whistle blows and Louis stalks off the pitch. Harry heads over to her, watching as she grabs a bottle of water, shaking her head.

“Hey,” Harry says.

Louis sighs; “We’re playing shit.”

“It’s only one-nil,” Harry tries, shrugging. “You can pull it back.”

Louis shakes her head, throwing the bottle on the ground before giving a sad smile at Harry and joining the rest of the team. Harry watches as their coach motions with her hands, talking tactics and positioning and, what Harry assumes, is an overall pep talk.

The minutes pass quickly, and soon enough the team is splitting up and before she can miss her chance, Harry runs over to Louis.

“I believe in you, okay?” Harry says, hugging her best friend; “You can do it.”

Louis can’t help the grin that stretches across her face and shakes her head. “You’re the best.”

Harry flicks her hair as she makes her way off the pitch, “Yeah, I know.”

+

They win the match. Of course they do.

They pull themselves together and fight for every goal and they deserve it - they deserve to win after their second-half.

When the whistle blows for full-time, Harry’s cheering with the brightest smile on her face despite the cold that’s seeping through her clothes. The team are in a huddle in the middle of the pitch, the smiles growing on their faces and Harry is _so_ proud.

She and Zayn race onto the pitch to congratulate their best friends, screaming and shouting at each other in glee.

“Where’s Lou?” Harry asks, standing on her tiptoes to try and see that familiar brown hair.

“She ran back to the changing rooms to grab her phone before the ceremony, wanted to call her mum - oh,” Niall says, her eyes growing wide; “Harry.”

“It’s okay,” Harry says, trying not to panic, “It’ll be okay.”

“Ready to get this trophy then, girls?” Louis shouts as she runs across the pitch. There’s cheers and shouts of confirmation as they line up next to the presenter and their coach.

Half-way back to where they were standing, Harry spots a familiar paper aeroplane laying on the grass.

Her eyes grow wide as she takes it in, before she walks over and picks it up. Her heart is beating frantically and her breath is coming out in short gasps as she opens it up.

In her own black writing are the words; _I love you._

But there, just below in a sparkly pink gel pen, are the words; _I love you, too, Harry._

She feels her heart stop for a split second before she looks up over at where the girls are standing, trying to catch Louis’ gaze.

Louis - Louis, who loves _her._ Louis, her best friend, is in love with her.

The rain starts falling and Harry’s hair is a mess, the messy bun drooping slightly from the weight of the raindrops but she doesn’t care. She sweeps the strands of hair out of her face, a bright smile breaking out on her face.

Her eyes are glistening as she clutches the paper aeroplane in her hand, the small inked letters causing hope to flare in her chest. Grinning, she claps with the rest of the supporters as the team are presented with their trophy.

Louis’ in the middle of the crowd and Harry’s able to spot her easily as she throws their trophy up in the air, above the heads of the team. Harry’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much but it doesn’t matter - nothing matters anymore.

The moment the team start to break apart, Harry runs.

The rain hits her face and her body, soaking through her clothes, as she makes her way into the crowd of people in the middle of the pitch. She finds her best friend in the center of it all; people patting her back, hugging her and showering her with congratulations and Harry stands there, stock still with pride bursting from her heart.

It’s obvious, it is, the moment Louis spots Harry. Looking up from the ground with a small smile on her face and her breath visibly hitches and her smile freezes.

“Did you mean it?” Harry asks, her voice breathless.

“Of course I did, Harry,” Louis says, the smile growing in full force.

And it’s there, surrounded by all their friends and classmates with the rain falling on their heads, soaking them to the bone, that Harry kisses Louis.

Pushing forward, she touches her lips to Louis’, wrapping her arms around her waist just as Louis wraps hers around her neck. It’s soft and gentle and all Harry can sense is Louis, Louis, _Louis._ Her heart is thumping in her chest and her hands are shaking slightly as the rain tries to get in between them.

Louis’ muddy from the field and Harry couldn’t care less even as she threads her fingers through her hair. They move together in a rhythm and Harry can taste chocolate on Louis’ tongue and there’s something that is so uniquely Louis.

When they pull apart, the both of them smiling so wide, Louis can’t help but press a kiss to the corner of Harry’s mouth; “I love you.”

Their friends are wolf-whistling and Harry swears she can hear a “ _finally,_ ” from Niall, but she ignores it all and focuses on the girl in front of her.

“I love you, too,” Harry says, grinning as she presses another kiss to Louis’ lips.

“Yeah?” Louis says, and Harry can feel the way her heart is beating so fast.

“Yeah,” Harry replies, before pulling away from Louis slightly; “You should go get your photos taken, you just won!”

“Yeah,” Louis says, smiling bashfully at the ground before looking up at Harry underneath her eyelashes; “I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't even know how long i've been working on this fic but here is it!!! finally finished and done and my first girl direction fic!!!! i hope you like it!  
> [i'm here on tumblr if you want to talk/ask me anything ](http://amemorymaze.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> [reblog it if you like it? ](http://amemorymaze.tumblr.com/post/112716148483/title-to-love-like-fools-summary-louis-whines-a)


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